Schooner SULTANA Wins Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race

For the second time in three years, Captain Michael Fiorentino and the crew of the Sultana Education Foundation’s schooner SULTANA claimed victory in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. This annual race sees a fleet of over 30 schooners race the length of the Chesapeake from Annapolis to Norfolk to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Sultana completed the 118 Nautical Mile race in an astonishing 16 hours and 15 minutes, averaging approximately 7.5 knots under sail for the duration of the race.

SULTANA competed in the “AA Class” of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, which sees her compete against the largest schooners, including VIRGINIA, LADY MARYLAND, COLUMBIA, and AJ MEEERWALD – all vessels whose designs are considerably more modern. Using “corrected time,” a handicapping system that accounts for the differences in the competing vessels’ designs, SULTANA claimed victory by a margin of almost two hours over the second place finisher COLUMBIA, and four hours over the third place schooner LADY MARYLAND.

Following the conclusion of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, SULTANA is scheduled to sail north to Solomons Island, Maryland to provide educational programs for Calvert County Schools in conjunction with he Calvert Marine Museum, before heading home to Chestertown for the Sultana Education Foundation’s annual Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival on October 26-28.

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Photo:
The Schooner SULTANA parades in Baltimore in advance of the start of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race.